Olympic bronze medallist, Saina had outclassed Spaniard Carolina Marin to clinch her first Super Series crown in 20 months, after coming out on top in the Denmark Open in October 2012.
The World No. 2 Indian will take on a qualifier in her campaign opener.
The other Indian in women's singles, World No. 11 P V Sindhu is unseeded and will face former World Champion Chinese Yihan Wang, seeded eighth, in her opening match.
Commonwealth Games champion Parupalli Kashyap will face Chinese sixth seed Wang Zhengming in a tough match, while Indonesia Masters winner, H S Prannoy will open against China's Tian Houwei.
India's men's doubles pair of Pranaav Chopra and Akshay Dewalkar will meet Cai Yun and Kang Jun, while 2010 Commonwealth Games champions Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa will face Dutch pair Samantha Barning and Iris Tabeling in women's doubles competition.
